The brand mapping strategy design

Branding and marketing strategist Karen Tiber Leland shares her hard-earned insights,
proven strategies, and best practices for creating a brand by design—instead of by default—
to help you gain greater influence within your company or industry and become a thought
leader in your field. Whether you are an entrepreneur, business owner or CEO, this book
provides specific, actionable techniques for designing, building, and accelerating your brand.
How can you make a brand synonymous
with leadership, intelligence, and
integrity? Karen Leland answers these
questions and more with insight, warmth,
and wit. This is a book that will help you
raise your profile and turn heads.
John Paul Rollert,
Harvard Extension School

Nina Lualdi, Sr. Director of
LATAM Innovation Cisco

Alan Weiss, Ph.D., Bestselling author of
Million Dollar Consulting

With characteristic wit, charm and
relatable anecdotes, Karen Leland’s The
Brand Mapping Strategy swiftly whisks
the reader through the steps necessary
to establish themselves and their
business not only as a thought leader,
but a true leader. This is an important
read for anyone building a business,
with something to say, or who desires to
be truly heard.
Binta Niambi Brown, Fortune magazine’s

40 Under 40 and Founder of Big Mouth
Records and Fermata Entertainment

Karen Tiber Leland is the president of Sterling Marketing Group, a
branding and marketing strategy and implementation firm. She helps
CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs build stronger personal, team
and business brands, and become thought leaders in their fields. Her
clients have included LinkedIn, Twitter, American Express, and Roche.
She has been interviewed by Fast Company, The Atlantic, MSNBC, and
Fortune.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59918-589-7
ISBN-10: 1-59918-589-X

$21.95
Business / Marketing
Cover design by Andrew Welyczko

entrepreneurpress.com

Karen Tiber Leland

Every executive should read The Brand
Mapping Strategy. It will open their eyes
to what their full potential is, transform
how they portray themselves, open
doors to opportunities they aspire to,
and ultimately inspire their teams and
organizations to perform and achieve for
a higher purpose.

From the personal to the corporate, from
large organizations to small, The Brand
Mapping Strategy is a critical market
advantage for the bold and ambitious.

The Brand Mapping Strategy

If You Don’t Define Your Brand,
Someone Else Will Do It For You.

The
Brand
Mapping
Strategy
Design

and
Accelerate
Build

Karen Tiber Leland

Your
Brand


“How can you make a brand synonymous with leadership, intelligence,
and integrity? Karen Leland answers these questions and more
with insight, warmth, and wit. This is a book that will help
you raise your profile and turn heads.”

—J P R, H E S

“Every executive should read The Brand Mapping Strategy. It will

open their eyes to what their full potential is, transform how they portray
themselves, open doors to opportunities they aspire to, and ultimately
inspire their teams and organizations to perform and achieve
for a higher purpose.”  

—N L, S. D  LATAM I C

“From the personal to the corporate, from large organizations to small,
The Brand Mapping Strategy is a critical market advantage
for the bold and ambitious.”

—A W, P.D.,    MILLION DOLLAR CONSULTING

“With characteristic wit, charm, and relatable anecdotes,

Karen Leland’s The Brand Mapping Strategy swiftly whisks the reader

through the steps necessary to establish themselves and their business not
only as a thought leader, but a true leader. This is an important read
for anyone building a business, with something to say,
or who desires to be truly heard.”  

—B N B, FORTUNE ’  U   F 
B M R  F E

“In this fast-changing, highly competitive era, it’s more important than

ever to know who you are and express it with distinction. Karen Leland’s
The Brand Mapping Strategy clearly and powerfully shows today’s CEO
how to create a personal brand that has a dramatic impact not only on
their reputation, but the reputation of their companies.” 

—K D, P.D., B   AGE WAVE

“Building a personal brand is one of the essential skills for survival now
and in the future. In The Brand Mapping Strategy, Karen Leland has
provided a roadmap for every entrepreneur and CEO that is
looking to master his or her brand, and turn it
into a profitable competitive advantage.” 

—S E, I  
 SUCCESS BUILT TO LAST

“Karen Leland’s The Brand Mapping Strategy is a must read for any

C-level executive.  It is full of practical advice for any leader looking to
enhance their executive presence and transform their team.”
—M H, CIO  S F I

“The Brand Mapping Strategy has taken the mystery out of branding
and provides a roadmap for any small-business owner,
entrepreneur, or CEO to dramatically elevate both
their personal and company brands.” 

—A M, CEO  N P,  P P

“The Brand Mapping Strategy captures the heart of what it means to
have an authentic brand and how to powerfully and
profoundly get there. I highly recommend it!” 

—L T, B   THE SOUL OF MONEY


“The Brand Mapping Strategy is an exceptional book for those who truly

want to build effective brands, rather than just talk about it. Candid and
practical, Karen Leland’s emphasis on a research-based
approach to brand building is a valuable guide
for executives at every level.”

—N R, P  W R

“In The Brand Mapping Strategy, Karen Leland provides insider secrets

to creating a world-class brand. Leaders will be inspired to transform not
only the expression of their own brand, but that of
their team and company.”

—O F C, A  THE CHARISMA MYTH

“No matter what business you are in you don’t just read
The Brand Mapping Strategy study it and use it as your
personal tool to set yourself, your company, and
product apart from the pack.”

—D A, I    BE A BEAST

“Karen Leland’s dynamic and no-nonsense perspective clearly outlines
how to effectively put your personal brand into action using visual,
intellectual, and emotional capital! The step-by-step insights and
guidelines she shares on how to differentiate yourself as a brand

and enhance your brand equity are spot on and essential in today’s
ultra-competitive world of branding. A must read for anyone
who wants to stand out amongst the clutter by creatively
promoting their brand attributes and relevantly
communicating their full brand potential!”

—T W. M, F I M 
C M  P A, P, F



The
Brand
Mapping
Strategy
Design

and
Accelerate

Build
Karen Tiber Leland

Your
Brand


Entrepreneur Press, Publisher
Cover Design: Andrew Welyczko
Production and Composition: Eliot House Productions
© 2016 by Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section
107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of the
copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be
addressed to the Business Products Division, Entrepreneur Media Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in
regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the
publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services.
If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent
professional person should be sought.
ebook ISBN: 978-1-61308-339-0


For my late father, Dr. Norman Tiber—a great tango dancer
and an even better teacher.



Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
PREFACE

The Power of Conscious, Authentic Branding . . . . . . . . . xiii
Top Ten Reasons to Buy This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii
How To Use This Book for Maximum Benefit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

PART ONE

Ready, Aim, Brand
CHAPTER ONE

The New Branding and Marketing Mindset and Myths:
How to Brand Yourself and Your Business in the Digital Age . . . . . . .3

Shift 1: From the Lucky Few to the Persistent Many . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
ix


x • The Brand Mapping Strategy

Shift 2: From the Big Stick to Small and Targeted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Shift 3: From a Sprint to a Marathon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CHAPTER TWO

The Marketing Mastery Pyramid: The Path to Industry
and Thought Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Phase One: Platform Development—Brand Design
and Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Phase Two: Brand and Buzz Building—Brand Expansion and
Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Phase Three: Thought/Industry Leadership—Brand Authority . . . . . 25
Where Are You on the Marketing Mastery Pyramid?
Take the Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

CHAPTER THREE

The Brand Mapping Process©: Seven Core Elements of
a Powerful Business, Team, and Personal Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

The New York Skyline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Core Element 1: Anchor Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Core Element 2: Unique Branding Proposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Core Element 3: Brand Tone and Temperament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Core Element 4: Brand Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Core Element 5: Signature Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Core Element 6: Signature Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Core Element 7: Brand Enhancers and Reducers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

CHAPTER FOUR

The Brand Mapping Strategy: Creating Your Business
and Personal Branding Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Understand the Tactical Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Determine Your Best Tactical Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Create Your Implementation Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Measure Success and Pivot as Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Beware the Blow Dryer Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

• Contents

The Brand Mapping Strategy • xi

PART TWO

Your Personal Brand in Action
CHAPTER FIVE

Sync Up Your Online Presence: Positioning Strategy
for Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Why Social Media Really Matters to You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Social Media Site Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Which Social Media Site Is Right? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Sync Up Your Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

CHAPTER SIX

The Misguided Myths of Personal Branding:

What You Need to Know That You Think You Know,
But Don’t, to Brand Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Myth 1: Personal Branding Is a Relatively New Phenomenon . . . . 100
Myth 2: Your Reputation Is Your Personal Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Myth 3: Your Personal Brand Is All About You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Myth 4: A Personal Brand Is a Good Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Myth 5: Your Image Is Your Personal Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Myth 6: A Personal Brand Is Nice but Unnecessary . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Myth 7: Your Personal Brand Is at Odds with

Your Business Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

CHAPTER SEVEN

Defining and Refining the Three Expressions
of Your Personal Brand: Building Your Personal Brand
with Visual, Intellectual, and Emotional Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Work Your Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
There’s More Than One Right Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
A Photograph Expresses Three Things, Not One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
The Visual Element of Your Personal Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
The Intellectual Aspect of Your Personal Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
The Emotional Connection to Your Personal Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

• Contents


xii • The Brand Mapping Strategy

When Is It Time to Rebrand? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

PART THREE

Creating the Brand-Centric CEO and Company
CHAPTER EIGHT

Your C-Suite and CEO Brand: Creating a Parallel

Brand to Drive CEO Reputation, Executive Presence,

and Thought Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Recognize the Value of a Parallel Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
The C-Suite/CEO Brand Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Practice C-Suite and CEO Reputation Management . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Establish Your Thought Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Engage in Content Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Strengthen Personal and Executive Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Network in Meet Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

CHAPTER NINE

Defining and Refining the Five Expressions
of a Brand-Centric Company: Create a Culture That

Gets Your Organization in Alignment with Your Brand Promise . . . . 139
Customer Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Management Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Employee Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Processes, Procedures, Systems, and Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Organizational Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
How Brand-Centric Is Your Business? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Two Paths to Becoming a Brand-Centric Organization. . . . . . . . . . 145
Using the Power of Teams to Live the Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Beyond Team Building to Team Branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

CHAPTER TEN

At the Crossroads Where Business and
Personal Brands Meet: Why Proactive Career Management

Is a Win for Everyone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Get Your Social Media Interview Ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

• Contents


The Brand Mapping Strategy • xiii
The Quality Of Your Digital Footprint Counts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Protect Your Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Curate Your Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Turnabout Is Fair Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
We Have Come Full Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Looking for More Help Implementing Your
Personal, Business, or CEO Brand? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

• Contents



Acknowledgments

I

t would be impossible to write an acknowledgments page for this book that
accurately reflects all the people in my life who have ultimately contributed

to its creation. Fortunately, you know who you are, so I can rest easy with
just a few specific shout-outs:

• Jillian McTigue, Jennifer Dorsey, Vanessa Campos, and Karen Billipp

at Entrepreneur Media. It’s always a joy to work with such pleasant
professionals.
• Nell McPherson, for always making sure my commas are in the right
place.
• Anne Christine Strugnell, my fellow scribe and dear friend, who
sat with me for hours on end tapping away on our laptops, sipping tea, and stopping to laugh and eat chocolate at appropriate
intervals.
xv


xvi • The Brand Mapping Strategy

• Susan Harrow, Liza and Raz Ingrasci, Les and Irving Bernstein,

Monica Norcia, Kim Bromley, Jennifer Reimer, Caryn and Ron
Rosenberg, Deborah Coffey, Colleen Rudio, September Dohrmann,
Theresa and Don Souers, Maggie Weiss, Randy Roberts, Dr. Alyse
Danis, Carla Madison, Barbara Tiber, Anne Tiber, and Sheila
Vasan Singla, for being there in good times and bad.
• Finally, to my clients at Sterling Marketing Group, thank you for
allowing me to support you in bringing your messages out into the
world. I feel deeply honored to be entrusted with your brands.

• Acknowledgments

PREFACE

The
Power of
Conscious, Authentic
Branding

O

ver a nine-month period between the summer of 2013 and spring
of 2014, I separated from my husband of 22 years, moved from
San Francisco to New York, started a new romance and ended it
heartbroken, moved back to San Francisco, and filed for divorce. Shortly
after, my mother’s husband passed away after a long illness, and two weeks
later, my father unexpectedly died of a stroke.
That was not a good year. But the silver lining was that it brought about
a forced rebrand in my personal life that had been a long time in coming.
The person I knew myself to be was in many ways gone, and two of the
roles I had held dear (my father’s daughter and someone’s wife) disappeared
almost overnight. This left me disoriented, but with a life-changing sense of
vulnerability.

xvii


xviii • The Brand Mapping Strategy

Over the next two years, I consciously worked to grieve and eventually
to reinvent my life (and my personal brand) from an authentic place that

reflected who I had become. The inner work I did naturally spilled over
and significantly reshaped my business brand.
Along the way, I gained a whole new insight into and appreciation
for the power of authentic and conscious branding—be it business, team,
or personal. This understanding has transformed my work with CEOs,
senior executives, and entrepreneurs and their businesses, organizations,
and teams. The book you now hold in your hands (or on your tablet)
reflects what I have learned about creating the awareness, developing the
vision, and implementing the strategy you need to organically move a
personal and business brand to the next level.

TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY THIS BOOK
The people who will get the most out of this book share two attributes
with my private clients: 1) They hope to bring their personal or business
brands to that next level, and 2) they have a relentless desire to contribute
their gifts to the world. If you bought this book, it’s likely to be for one (or
more) of the following reasons:
1. You want to expand your current brand outreach and contribution
to a bigger audience in your industry, community, or the world at
large.
2. You know you need to be head and shoulders above the crowd,
sought after and seen as having high value, but you are not always
sure how to navigate the branding, PR, and marketing waters to
get there.
3. You want to be seen as a thought or industry leader, which
requires clear positioning, a specific strategy for brand building
(online and off), and a method for implementation—none of
which you are sure how to achieve.
4. You are looking to establish a clearer, stronger, or different personal brand within your current company as a path to greater
executive presence, promotion, or expanded opportunity.

Preface • The Power of Conscious, Authentic Branding


The Brand Mapping Strategy • xix

5. You are so busy with the day-to-day needs of your company that
you have not developed the knowledge to do the branding and
marketing required to build your business.
6. You have tons of great content that could be better leveraged but
are overwhelmed or confused as to how to effectively and efficiently get it out into the world and build your brand.
7. You believe it is time to rebuild, refine, reinvent, or rev up your
personal or business brand, but you are not sure where to start or
how to get there.
8. You feel overwhelmed or confused about what your marketing
and social media strategy should be.
9. You realize you need to be well positioned online for career management, but you don’t have the knowledge you need to maximize
your online reputation.
10. You see competitors being touted as thought leaders and interviewed by the media and think, “That should be me.”

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK FOR MAXIMUM BENEFIT
I happily spend most of my days at work helping CEOs, executives, and
entrepreneurs develop stronger personal, business, and team brands. But
like all entrepreneurs, my reach is limited by my capacity. I wrote The
Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build, and Accelerate Your Brand as a way
to touch all the people I won’t ever have the privilege of meeting in person,
but for whom this message is still important. With that in mind, there are
a few ways that you, the reader, can use this book to gain maximum benefit
for your brand.

Borrow a Lesson from the World of Hula
For several years I studied hula dancing in Hawaii. I was privileged enough
to study under a revered, multigenerational kumu (teacher) of hula named
Kawaikapuokalani Frank Hewett.
Frank has a sign hanging in his hula studio that reads “A‘ohe pau
ka ‘ike i ka hālau ho‘okahi,” which translated into English means “All

Preface • The Power of Conscious, Authentic Branding


xx • The Brand Mapping Strategy

knowledge is not learned in just one school.” This is as true in branding
as it is in hula.
This book is the accumulation of the work I have done in this area
over several decades. The ideas proffered here are not theoretical but
rather come from my professional observations in the field working
with everything from small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies, in 50
countries around the world, and in every industry you can imagine, from
software and shipping to banking and baking.
While the ideas in this book have been proven over time with my
clients, no single author or expert has the final say on what works in
branding (hence the sign in Frank’s hula studio). My best advice to you in
using this book is to take what you like and leave the rest.

Don’t Be Afraid to Go Modular
This book was intentionally written in segments so that you could find
the parts in it that are the most important to you at this time. Although I
strongly suggest reading Part One first to get a foundational understanding
of your business or personal brand, each chapter stands on its own.

In addition, I’ve given many real-life examples throughout the
book to help you see how these ideas translate into practical reality. One
note: In most cases my clients and the people I mention or interview
have given me permission to use their real names and company names.
In those cases where using a real name was not an option I have
changed the name of the client but kept the circumstances of the
situation factual.
Finally, keep in mind that this book is meant to be a companion you
can customize on your branding journey.

• You may be in a particular pickle right now and need to use this

book as an emergency measure.
• You may read this book from cover to cover in one sitting and with
great gusto take all the actions recommended.
• Perhaps you will read one part, put the book down for a bit and
implement it, and then pick it up again.
• This book may become a part of your yearly brand review.
Preface • The Power of Conscious, Authentic Branding


The Brand Mapping Strategy • xxi

• You and your team may use this book to transform the way you do
business.

In any and all of these cases, and more, it’s all about making this book
work for you and your brand. Other than that, as your mother used to say,
“just do your best,” and call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,

Karen Tiber Leland
Sterling Marketing Group
www.karenleland.com
San Francisco, California/New York City, New York
If you would like access to my blog, additional ideas, articles, ebooks,
webinars, online training, and other free stuff and goodies on social media,
marketing, and business, team, and personal branding, please visit me at
www.karenleland.com, or contact me at

Preface • The Power of Conscious, Authentic Branding



PART ONE

Ready,
Aim,
Brand
Design

Your
Brand